|
 Gateway Hotel by Taj is perhaps one of the most majestic properties in Nashik, with sprawling lawns and a luxurious surrounding. In order to promote Indian wines and help the tourists, a substantial majority of whom are foreigners, the hotel has made long strides during the last few years to make itself a wine destination. The beautiful wine bar, Solterra stocks only wines and is a great place to enjoy them. This is the bar where we enjoyed the tasting of wines by the All India Wine Producers Association during the visit of John Salvi MW and later drank wine matched with different dishes. Earlier, a few days ago, the most-well-known British wine expert Jancis Robinson, MW had visited and tasted wines with a few of the top producers of the region and appreciated the evenings curated by the Hotel.
All that came to a sudden halt as the gong hit midnight yesterday, thanks to the Supreme Court clarification of the earlier order of December 2016 banning the operating of liquor shops within 500 m of the national and state highways and the serving of alcohol in bars, pubs and restaurants also now been brought to a stop. The bench, headed by the Chief Justice of India JS Khehar and also comprising Justices D Y Chandrachud and L Nageswara Rao, held that letting bars and restaurants serve alcohol within the 500m-range of national and state highways would defeat the very purpose of its order through which the honourable court had sought to curb deaths due to drunken driving. However, Sikkim and Meghalaya where 90% of the shops would need to be closed since relocation is not possible, have been exempted.
During the recent past there has been an explosion of pubs, restaurants and hotels along the highways due to convenience of access. The Trident (possibly Gurgaon Oberoi), Westin, Crown Plaza, Hyatt Gurgaon are a few of the properties which have invested heavily in the infrastructure and are relatively trouble free. The stretch of state highway leading up to the Taj Mahal in Agra has seven of the high end hotels who have been apparently caught in the quagmire. Catering largely to foreign tourists, they are in a state of limbo and confusion.
Some of the hotels in the newly developed Aerocity near the international airport might be affected by the order. Says Ankur Chawla, who was the Beverage Manager with the JW Marriott Aerocity till recently, ‘we had measured the distance and found it to be 700 m from the Highway 48. Thus a majority of the hotels would be spared, except perhaps those facing the highway. Anyway, the liquor supply has been stopped at all the hotels here.’ One feels sorry for the few who have booked for social functions and may find that it was not an ‘April Fools Day’ joke played on them but an order from the highest court of the land that must be obeyed and so there would be no liquor served at the functions booked.
In a country where prohibition is constitutionally ordained, and where States like Gujarat have failed practically in enforcing it, the decision by the honourable court is well intended but one where the details have been apparently given a miss. Only time will tell how the executive takes the decision of the judiciary - it has options to legislate. For the time being India has been hit by a Tsunami and the wine segment is just a small part that will strive to survive.
The decision of the Supreme Court is also reflective of the failure of the state governments for years to control the cancer of drunken driving, resulting in deaths and this current state of affairs. Overseas, in civilised countries, the laws against drunken driving are extremely strict, providing for arrests, prosecution and cancellation of licenses-something that has remained a pipe dream in India. No country or society can tolerate 400 deaths due to drunk driving every day.
But the decision to ban serving of alcohol in bars and restaurants seems to be like throwing the baby out with the bathwater. It may not stop drunk driving but will put thousands of people and entrepreneurs out of jobs and result in a loss of millions of rupees-to them and the governments whose revenues will be cut down drastically.
And we will have a new scourge to blame for another growth-less year for the wine industry since many of the hoteliers, restaurateurs and bar owners had suspended purchases during the last couple of months because of the uncertainty.
This is not an April Fools’ Day prank but a serious Article- editor |